Animal Instincts
by kittyluv135
Summary: When the pack goes after a coven of witches Derek gets hit by a spell that reverts him back to his basic animalistic instincts. Stiles is there to help him through the experience while Derek seems more interested in claiming a mate.
1. Chapter 1

"Witches. Of course, why not? I was just thinking we didn't have enough supernatural crap on our hands already," Stiles exclaimed exasperatedly. He, Scott, Derek, Isaac, Kira, and Lydia were crowded around Deaton's operating table listening intently as Deaton gave them the rundown of the latest cause of mass homicide in Beacon Hills.

Deaton continued as if uninterrupted, "They're going to amass great power if they can complete the spell with the Nemeton on the full moon. Our best option is to strike now and try to prevent them from getting that far." "And how exactly do we fight witches? We're not exactly experts on them, if you hadn't noticed," Isaac interjected, earning a sideways glare from Derek who was trying not to lose his patience on all the distractions from the problem at hand.

"Witches are powerful, but not very fast at casting spells. If we can force one of these on the witches before they can do any damage," Deaton said as he placed what looked like a crown made out of branches on the table, "we can stop them from making any progress with their plans."

"What is this?" Kira asked as she picked up and examined the crown. "It's a crown made out of the branches of the rowan tree. It will stifle the witch's magic and can't be taken off by anyone who uses magic." Deaton replied.

"So once we put the crowns on them they'll be powerless?" Scott asked, taking the crown from Kira to look at it himself. "Precisely. However, I only have one crown fully made so I'm going to need help crafting the rest. Any volunteers?" Deaton asked, looking at the teens expectantly.

Everyone else turned to look at Stiles. "What? Why do I always get stuck with the lame jobs?" Stiles asked, waving his arms around to express how upset he was. "Well, I mean, the rest of us will probably be fighting the witches ourselves, so it's really only fair," Scott said sheepishly. "Well what about Lydia? She's not going to be fighting either, will she?" Stiles replied, somewhat offended that he had to pick up the slack just because everyone else had supernatural help.

"Lydia will be figuring out where the witches' hide out is. She should be able to focus her hearing to find where the source of the magic is coming from." Deaton replied while Lydia looked smugly back at Stiles. "Please?" Scott added, turning his puppy dog eyes onto maximum. Stiles groaned, but said, "Fine. But next time I get to go accessorize witches while the rest of you get splinters up the ass trying to make stupid crowns."


	2. Chapter 2

"You sure this is the right place?" Scott asked, looking at the ramshackle old barn in the woods. "It looks pretty deserted." "This is where the little voices keep telling me they are, and unless you have a better idea then I suggest we go with the resident psychic," Lydia said, folding her arms and looking at the barn."

Alright, come and get your witch crowns. Please be gentle, I spent eight hours crafting these suckers," Stiles announced, handing a crown to each of the teens. "There are some extra if you somehow manage to lose yours, but there's not enough for everyone to have a second so try and keep track of them," he added once everyone had one.

"You're sure these are going to work? Because if they don't we're walking into a hornet's nest with virtually no defenses," Derek asked, turning his crown over skeptically. "Have a little faith, Sourwolf. When have our plans ever failed?" Stiles quipped, giving Derek a smack on the back. Derek gave him a dead-pan stare a replied, "When haven't your plans failed?"

"The crowns will work," Deaton assured. "All you have to do is make sure that they get them on. They should be asleep right now, so stealth is the best plan of attack here. Good luck." Scott nodded and everyone but Deaton, Lydia, and Stiles started creeping towards the barn.

Once they were in, there were a few minutes of silence before an earsplitting screech rang through the air. "So much for stealth," muttered Stiles. A few seconds later the doors of the barn burst open and everybody ran out locked in fierce combat with a witch. They may not have been fast at casting spells, but they wielded enchanted knives that glowed with power that could do some serious damage.

Derek was fighting two at once, his eyes glowing blue as he roared, swiping his claws at them both. One witch started advancing on Derek, aggressively slashing her blade while the other held back and started chanting. "Derek!" Stiles yelled, grabbing one of the extra crowns and running towards them, ignoring Deaton and Lydia shouting for him not to.

The witch's back was turned to Stiles so he ran up behind her and jammed the crown on her head. The witch screamed and fell to the ground, unconscious. Both Derek and the other witch stopped moving for a moment, stunned, before the other witch screamed in fury for her fallen companion. She turned a hit Derek with unnatural strength, who was taken by surprise and flew into a tree, momentarily stunned.

The witch turned back to Stiles and said in a dark tone, "You'll pay for restraining my sister, you weakling." She then began to chant quickly, her eyes glowing blue as Stiles, now unarmed, looked around to see that the others were too involved in their own battles to help him. He could see Deaton and Lydia running towards him, but they wouldn't make it to him in time.

The witch finished her chant and sent a blue light flying at Stiles. Stiles watched as if in slow motion as the blue light came nearer and nearer, but seemed unable to move himself. Just before the light hit him, however, something huge and solid rammed into his side and pushed him out of the way and onto the ground. Stiles looked up to see Derek get hit by the spell and fall to the ground next to him.

"Derek," Stiles whispered, moving next to and shaking him. "You okay? C'mon dude, wake up!" Deaton appeared next to Stiles and began looking Derek over while Stiles turned to see that Lydia had crowned the witch that had cast the spell.

"He doesn't seem to be developing any physical injuries, so whatever the spell did must be affecting his mind,'' Deaton announced. "I won't be able to help him until he's awake and we can tell his symptoms. Help me move him, we need to get him back to the loft." The rest of the pack had managed the finish off the rest of the witches and were crowding around where Derek was lying on the grass. Scott quickly moved forward to help pick him up and they slowly made their way back to the cars.


	3. Chapter 3

Scott and Deaton laid Derek on his bed, Derek still dead to the world. "Why won't he wake up?" Scott asked, worry splayed across his face. "The spell's initial blast probably knocked him out, but unless it's a sleeping curse he should be up in a few hours," Deaton replied."Someone needs to stay with him until he wakes up to see what his symptoms are so I can figure out how to cure him. I would do it myself, but I need to negotiate with the witches to make sure they leave town and don't bring in more reinforcements."

"I'll do it," Stiles said, raising his hand and stepping nearer to the bed and looking at Derek. "He risked himself to protect me, it's the least I can do," he added quickly, turning away from Derek to look at Deaton.

Deaton nodded, saying, "Call me as soon as he wakes up, we don't know how serious it is yet," before sprinting off. "Want any company?" Scott asked, still looking pretty worried. "Naw, don't worry about it. Just stop off at my house and tell my dad what's going on will you? I don't want him to worry," Stiles replied, giving him a small smile.

Scott smiled back, then patted him on the arm before joining the rest of the pack who had filed out and headed for the elevator. Stiles sighed tiredly and pulled up a chair next to Derek's bed and sat down. It was going to be a long night.

Stiles didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but he was suddenly pulled back into consciousness by a low growling very nearby. He opened his eyes to see Derek, half wolfed out, growling at him from the bed, crouched in an aggressive position on all fours.

"Derek?" Stiles asked, getting up slowly, still groggy with sleep. Derek responded by letting out a roar and advancing further towards Stiles, still on all fours. "Woah! Take it easy, it's just me, Stiles, remember?" Stiles quickly started, backing up as quickly as he could. Derek didn't seem to understand and lunged at Stiles, making them both fall to the floor where Derek pinned him in under a second.

Derek bared his teeth and seemed about to bite Stiles' head off when he stopped growling and leaned forward, pressing his nose against Stiles' throat and inhaling deeply. Slowly he backed off and stood up, towering over a very confused and worried Stiles.

"Derek, what's going on? Why won't you just talk to-Gah!" Stiles was cut off mid sentence when Derek grabbed him by the waist and threw him over his shoulder. He walked back to the bed where he dropped Stiles unceremoniously on it before climbing on himself and positioning himself over Stiles.

"Look, Derek, I don't know what's going on with you, but you need to tell me what's wrong with you so Deaton can find you a cure and… a-are you scent marking me?" Derek had begun rubbing his face over Stiles' chest and arms, slowing moving on to his neck, the rest of his body pressed flush against Stiles'.

Once he seemed satisfied he wrapped his arms and legs around Stiles and relaxed, falling back into a light sleep. Stiles lay on his back with this giant weight acting as a human blanket, his arms pressed to Derek's chest. He tried to slowly wiggle out from underneath him, but his movement only caused a slight growl from Derek and a tighter grip that made it impossible to move any farther.

Stiles huffed in frustration and instead focused on getting his phone out from his jeans pocket without bothering the sleeping giant above him. After a few long minutes he finally managed to maneuver it out and dial Deaton, who picked up on the second ring.

"Stiles, is Derek awake? How is he feeling?" "He's, umm," Stiles paused, trying to find the right words to describe the situation, "he's awake-well, was awake-and acting really weird." "Weird how?" Deaton prompted. "Weird like, he's acting more like an actual wolf than a Sourwolf," Stiles said, as Derek shifted above him and then relaxed again in a more comfortable position.

"That's… troubling. Try to keep him calm and don't let him leave the loft, I'll be over there as quick as I can," Deaton finished, the sounds of keys jingling as he made to close the clinic audible over the phone. "Yeah, and hurry would you?" Stiles said as he hung up and resigned himself to being Derek's human teddy bear until Deaton showed up.


End file.
